Pen Pals
by a fisch
Summary: Based on a tumblr post. Harry sends an owl thanking Narcissa for saving him and as the letters are exchanged, she realises how much this kid needs a mother, and she volunteers. Implied Drarry fluff on Draco's side. Includes other related short stories. Light fun, enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Pen Pals

 _Dear Mrs. Malfoy,_

 _Thank you for helping me back at the Forbidden Forest, I know it wasn't easy to lie to Voldemort. Even though you were only trying to save your son, you saved me too._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Harry Potter_

Narcissa stared at the long piece of parchment delivered to her by an over excited minute owl. It was still flying and twittering above her, slowly testing her patience.

"Calm yourself." she said sharply and it obliged, landing on the dining table.

The tall woman reread the letter several times, she couldn't believe Harry Potter was thanking her when her family and many others had supported the Dark Lord. She felt a pang of guilt when she thought about what the Death Eaters had done, what her husband had done. Narcissa herself had never directly contributed to anything but she had watched it all to happen.

"Mother?" came a voice from in front of her, snapping her out of her daze. Draco sat on the other end of the table, he was staring at the owl that was now helping itself to some of their breakfast. Narcissa looked at her son, her one and only son as tears fell down her face.

Draco seemed stunned and walked over to her, unsure of what to do or say. The witch had briefly imagined her baby in Harry Potter's shoes and it had pained her so much she was unable to contain her emotions. Guilt consumed her heart as she pulled Draco into a tight hug. As Draco hugged back, she made up her mind to reply to Harry Potter. The boy who thanked her for her selfish actions. The boy who saved her son.

~.~

 _Dear Harry Potter,_

 _I am not worthy of your gratitude. I know that a feeble apology is not enough for the pain you have gone through but I can't think of what else to say. I am sorry for all that has happened._

 _And thank you. Thank you for saving my son. I know you two were enemies at Hogwarts, but you saw passed it and saved his life. For that, I am forever grateful._

 _Hope you are well,_

 _Narcissa Malfoy_

When Harry had decided to write a letter to Mrs. Malfoy, he was met with a lot of resistance from Ron and Hermione.

"Why in the world are you thanking her for? We saved Malfoy from the Room of Requirement! I'd say that's even enough, seeing as how we almost died trying to save the git." Ron said exasperatedly.

"He does have a point," Hermione agreed. Harry ignored them both and sent the letter off with Pigwedgion. What he didn't expect however, was a reply. He had just finished reading her letter to Ron and Hermione, who were looking more and more skeptical.

"Sounds dodgy to me," Ron said, poking at the parchment with his wand. "What if it's cursed?"

"Well, do I look cursed?" Harry mused.

"Don't you remember when we first spoke to her in Madam Mulkins, don't you remember how much of a-" he called Mrs. Malfoy something dreadful, making Hermione hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"Ron!"

"I don't know, it seems, genuine." Harry said. He himself had no idea why he felt that Mrs. Malfoy was being truthful until he lightly grazed the parchment and noticed blotches of smeared ink around some of the words.

"She cried," Harry exclaimed, "she was crying when she wrote this letter."

"Rubbish!" Ron retorted as he snatched the parchment out of Harry's hands. He and Hermione examined it together. Their furrowed brows told him they felt the same but didn't want to admit it. Although his friends remained suspicious of Mrs. Malfoy, Harry decided to start on a reply. It was more difficult than he'd thought.

 _Dear Mrs. Malfoy,_

 _How have you been?_

Harry, over the many months, had adopted more of a forgiving nature. After Snape's death, he realised that there is a lot hidden behind people's actions, that he could only hope to understand one day. He thought about why Draco was the way he was. And he had almost, almost, forgiven him. He couldn't, however, wrap his head around forgiving Lucius Malfoy and didn't like much the idea of wishing him well. And so he wrote…

 _Dear Mrs. Malfoy,_

 _How have you been? I hope you and Draco are well._

He stared at the two sentences he had written. What now?

 **~.~**

Narcissa unfolded the small piece of parchment and decided to dismiss the small owl, she would use her own if she wanted to reply. The owl looked dejected as she waved it away, but it left all the same. She sat to read the letter, which didn't take long. Noticing that Harry Potter's wishes didn't extend to her husband, she felt a little tense. Of course she understood why he wouldn't want to ask about Lucius. She was surprised he even cared about her and Draco.

And so the exchange of letters continued and Narcissa started to grow fond of Harry whether she wanted to or not. Narcissa had begun sending food parcels and once, even stunning new robes on Harry's birthday. She had picked them out herself, with the price of having her son find out.

"Mother, what the hell are you writing to Potter for?"

But she ignored him, and sent the robes off, along with an invitation to dinner, in which her husband would be absent. She had spent the next few days being complained to by her son who had started talking about Harry again.

 **~.~**

Harry was surprised to see the new robes in the mail. As he tried them on, he felt a familiar warmth bubbling in his stomach. It was like everytime Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug or put extra sausages on his plate. The feeling of a mother's affections. He decided to go to the dinner. Harry bid the Weasleys farewell on the fated night; he had been staying at their house ever since the war and headed to the gate where he could apparate from. Harry had nervously tried to flatten his hair to look smart and presentable. Once he was out of the Weasley's gate, he apparated to arrive in front of a mansion and was surprised to see Draco wandering outside his door.

"Hey, Malfoy" he greeted the blonde, feeling a pang of annoyance just looking at the prat's pointy face. Draco looked around and his face contorted into a strange expression, almost as if he was trying not to smile. The blonde waved his wand and his gate clanged opened.

"You look fancy," Harry commented, trying to sound civil. Draco did seem indeed overdressed. He sneered at this.

"Well, Mother said an important guest was coming, I didn't know it was _you_." He drawled, glaring at Harry. Harry glared back, hoping he wouldn't be attending dinner.

When inside Narcissa greeted him warmly, she seemed to enjoy the sight of her 'two sons' standing side by side. She gave Harry an awkward hug and beckoned them to the table. The spread was rich, something Harry wasn't quite used to. He had been eating Mrs. Weasley's delicious home cooked meals too long to enjoy the fancy food, but he ate it all the same.

As he ate, he noticed Draco constantly sneaking glances at him. When Narcissa left the table he aimed a kick at Draco from underneath.

"Ow!"

"What are you staring at me for?" Harry whispered furiously.

"I wasn't staring, Potter!" Draco sniped back, his face a little coloured. Harry frowned, why was this git turning all pink?

Out of instinct he reached out and placed his palm on Draco's forehead. The blonde fell backwards in his chair while trying to avoid Harry's touch. The loud sound attracted Narcissa as she returned, dessert in hand, wondering what had happened. Harry was wondering what had happened too.

Draco stood up, face redder than the Weasleys' hair and ran up the stairs.

Narcissa sighed and placed the dessert on the table, scooping up a large piece for Harry.

"Draco's been…a bit too excited."

"Excited?" Harry repeated skeptically.

Narcissa chuckled as she sat back down, taking a dainty bite.

"Ever since he found out we were in contact, he's been talking about you all day and night, just like when you two were at Hogwarts."

For some reason, this made Harry flush too.

"Complaining you mean." he said, poking at his dessert.

Narcissa didn't say anything to this but continued smiling.

They talked spiritedly about mundane things, Harry thought he hit the lottery when she started talking about Draco and all his embarrassing moments, thinking of all the laughs Ron, Hermione and he were going to get out of it when he got home. Finally, it was time to say goodbye for the night and Narcissa urged Harry to say bye to Draco before he went. Out of politeness, he made his way upstairs, walking briskly. Portraits peered down at him with sneering looks. The entire mansion reminded him of Grimmauld place and he tried to push down a hot streak of anger that briefly coursed through his fingers at the thought of Sirius and Bellatrix.

He paused in front of Draco's door, the realisation that Narcissa was her sister dawning on him. But he didn't let that deter his newly set opinion of Mrs. Malfoy, especially since both his godfather and Mrs. Tonks were related to Bellatrix too.

Harry considered knocking for a brief second before dismissing the thought and turning the knob.

 **~.~**

Draco Malfoy had exactly three most humiliating experiences in his life. The first was when Harry Potter refused to shake his hand when he offered his friendship. The second was when Harry Potter had seen him get slapped across the face by that Mudblood Granger. And the third was when he was bounced around as a ferret in front of a whole crowd of students which happened to include Harry Potter.

And so, he never thought to find himself in yet another humiliating experience as none other than Harry Potter stood in his doorway, staring at him with his trousers halfway up his legs. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, though to Draco it felt like several years before the black haired wizard shut the door with a soft thud.

The Slytherin was frozen on the spot, as his trousers slipped down to the floor. He felt his face grow hot and he collapsed into a ball, wondering how Harry Potter could still be so hot.

 **~.~**

Harry tried to forget the sight of Draco's…package and went down the stairs slowly, now completely ignoring all the portraits, a certain image still fresh in his mind. Narcissa was at the bottom of the stairs and she seemed to be holding a parcel for him to take home.

"I want you to give it to the Weasleys. Don't say it's from me or they won't take it,"

He nodded, taking the parcel from her. She hesitated, then conjured up a pair of wildly patterned socks. This made Harry raise an eyebrow.

"If you ever visit Dobby, I'd…I'd like you to leave this for him."

Harry stared at the socks, dumbstruck. In a few of the letters, Harry had eventually told Mrs. Malfoy about the fate of Dobby but not much was revealed to him about how she felt about it. He took the socks and hugged her again.

Narcissa seemed surprised but a smile crossed her lips and she patted his head.

"Stay well,"

"You too."

Later that night, Harry gave Mrs. Weasley the parcel without telling her where it was from, but judging from the sad smile, she knew who the sender was. She hugged him tightly and told him to get to bed because it was late. He headed upstairs to Ron's room to find Ron and Hermione still awake.

"How was it mate? Glad to know you're not poisoned, though we still can't be too sure." Ron said as Harry entered through the door. Harry took off his coat and sat down, grinning.

"It was fun."

 **~.~**

 _Based on a post on tumblr by sea-rogue._

 _Ps. Would have loved to have Draco say "Mother, what the fuck." but he isn't really the type to say that so._


	2. Chapter 2

Christmas with Teddy

"Come on Teddy, don't draw all over it," Andromeda cooed softly, grabbing the quill out of her grandson's hands. Teddy pouted and looked at her, hair turning black and messy. She chuckled, and continued writing her letter.

After she wrote her letter to Harry, she pulled out another piece of parchment and started on one more. Unknown to Harry, Andromeda had rekindled her relationship with Narcissa. She wanted to invite her little sister and her son to spend Christmas at her house, along with Harry.

~.~

On one chilly morning of December, the Burrow was empty except for two people. Harry bit into his pie, his eyes wandering vaguely around the kitchen.

"Hey, Hermione is coming over for Christmas right?" He asked Ron, who was sitting across him, also eating.

"Nope," he said, buttering a second toast, "she said she wanted to spend some time with her parents, why are you asking?"

"I feel weird to be the only non Weasley at Christmas."

"Come off it, you're family! Mum will be even more devastated not having you here. You're practically her seventh son."

Harry shrugged, a heavy weight on his heart. He had felt out of place at the Weasley house ever since the war and had been thinking of getting his own place for a while, not wanting to be a continued burden on Mr and Mrs Weasley.

They shared idle chatter for a while until an owl suddenly fluttered in through the open window, landing on the dining table. Harry and Ron looked at it, and then at each other, puzzled. They didn't recognise the owl at all. Thinking it was probably one of the school owls and that Hermione had sent them a letter, Harry took the letter from the owl's extended leg. Immediately Harry could see that it wasn't from Hermione. He looked at it interestedly, showing Ron the weird scribbles drawn on the outside of the envelope and when he flipped it over, he saw that it had been sent by Mrs. Tonks.

Harry opened the letter and read aloud.

 _Dear Harry,_ _  
_ _  
_ _I would like to invite you to join Teddy and I for Christmas this year. Teddy wants to to see his godfather again and I think it will be great to spend some time together._ _  
_ _  
_ _Love from,_ _  
_ _Mrs. Tonks_ _  
_  
Harry stared, a little embarrassed but really quite pleased. Ron wondered out loud why she didn't just come over to the Weasley house, and although Harry wondered it too, he didn't voice his thoughts, happy for an excuse to not spend Christmas at the Burrow. Aside from the fact that he felt bad to trouble Mr. And Mrs. Wealsey further, he was also trying to avoid Ginny. It had been easy for him to avoid the subject of getting back together because she returned to Hogwarts to complete her education but with her back for Christmas, he would have nowhere to hide. His feelings for her had simply, gone. He no longer felt the way he did and he didn't want to deal with it.

That night, he told Mrs. Weasley he would be spending Christmas with Mrs. Tonks. She seemed unhappy at this and told him that Andromeda had politely rejected her offer to spend Christmas at the Burrow. Harry wondered if he was why, and with some guilt, sent off the reply to Mrs. Tonks.

With Christmas drawing near, Mrs. Tonks recommended Harry stay a few days, so Harry, all packed with a weeks worth of clothes, said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ron.

After apparting from the front gate, he found himself outside a familiar house. Walking up to the front door, he knocked three times. There were some indistinct noises from within and the door opened to reveal Mrs. Tonks holding Teddy.

"Hi Harry," she greeted warmly. Teddy smiled at his godfather and his hair turned black and messy. Harry grinned broadly, feeling a warmth spreading through his heart. Teddy stretched his chubby little arms, waiting to be held and Harry took him from his grandmother. After being invited inside, he looked around, staring sadly at a portrait of Remus and Tonks. Setting Teddy down on his baby mat, Harry played with him until lunch was ready. While helping Mrs. Tonks set the table, he remembered what Mrs. Weasley had said.

"Mrs. Weasley told me she invited you over for Christmas?"

Mrs. Tonks smiled, settling Teddy in his baby chair.

"I heard from Narcissa that she had taken it upon herself to be a second mother to you,"

Harry nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"We've been chatting, and I invited her and her son over for Christmas."

The back haired wizard was surprised, after all, both her daughter and her husband died during the war that Mrs. Malfoy had been a part of. Mrs. Tonks continued speaking.

"She told me that she couldn't leave Lucius alone on Christmas but she would come over with Draco tomorrow. That's why I refused Molly's invite."

Harry stared, accepting the dish she handed him, full of steaming hot stew. The last time he saw Malfoy was when he had seen too much. Thinking about how wonderfully awkward it was going to be when they came over, he burnt his tongue.

"Are you okay with it? If you're not I can ask them to come after you leave." Mrs. Tonks said concernedly, handing him some water. After drowning the whole cup, he set it down, his face a little pink.

"N-no, it's fine." he mumbled, picking up Teddy's spoon and feeding him a bite. Smiling, Mrs. Tonks took a bite of her own food before saying something that made Harry drop some pureed cauliflower into his stew.

"Oh, and they'll be staying one night so Draco will be rooming with you."

Harry, now red faced, tried not to feel too embarrassed when Teddy copied him, his little cheeks as red as Harry's.

~.~

Shocked at what he just heard, Draco's face went from his usual pale to a pink. He knew his Aunt had invited them over but he didn't know that Harry was going to be there too, much less they would be sharing a room. The last time he had seen the Gryffindor was three months ago, and he had pretty much accepted, to his utter dismay, that his relationship with the teen had reached a non salvageable point. He had only recently discovered his feelings for Harry and he himself had already damaged it beyond repair before he could do anything about it. Its not like he ever hoped to confess, his pride wouldn't allow it and what was the point to confess just to get rejected? Besides, he was pretty sure Harry and that Weasley girl were still dating.

At this thought, a slight pain trickled from his finger tips up to his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force the pain away.

"Mother can't we go after he leaves?" he asked grumpily. His mother gave him a sharp look.

"I want to see Harry too, and if we go out too many times without your father he is going to start whining. Now I don't want you arguing me on this anymore."

Draco muttered darkly under his breath and tried to eat his food, face still pink.

~.~

Harry managed to distract himself from the dawning awkward social event with Teddy's overwhelming adorableness. Teddy smiled for his godfather often, giggling and laughing. They had also managed to teach him a new trick.

"Teddy, where's your godfather?" Harry cooed. With a cheeky smile, Teddy waddled towards Harry and lifted a chubby finger to point to him. Beaming, he scooped him up high and threw him into the air. Teddy squealed in delight, babbling in his baby talk.

They were having a great time playing until there was knocking on the door. Harry stiffened.

Andromeda went to get the door and Harry held Teddy securely in his arms, hesitantly following behind her.

He could see that the repaired relationship between the two sisters was still stiff, Narcissa seemed even more comfortable talking with Harry. She acknowledged Teddy but didn't try to hold him. Teddy, noticing the new strangers in the house buried his face in Harry's chest. Harry nodded slightly towards Draco and the blonde returned the gesture with a small scowl. They had lunch first and all in all, it was extremely awkward. Narcissa and Andromeda making stilted conversation, Harry and Draco not making any conversation and Teddy staring suspiciously at the intruders.

After they were seated around the living room, Harry was thrilled that Teddy presented a chance for him to escape.

He started crying loudly and after checking briefly, Harry found that Teddy's diaper was soiled.

"I'll go change it Mrs. Tonks," he said quickly, before dashing to the other room while carrying Teddy like a bomb. After setting him down, he took out his wand to clean his bum and dispose of the diaper. He accioed the baby lotion then proceeded to rub it on Teddy as slowly as he could.

"Urgh, it stinks in here,"

Harry groaned internally and turned towards the unmistakable drawling voice of Draco. Why was this git here?

"If it stinks then get out," Harry said harshly, still putting on more baby lotion than was necessary. When he realised he had rubbed on too much, he accioed a clean diaper and started wrapping it on.

"They told me to come and help you though you seem to be doing pretty well cleaning after filth."

Harry glared, he longed to throw the dirty diaper in that prats face, but he had already used scourgify on it.

"Well, as you can see, 'filth' has been all cleaned up so you can just head back to the living room." Harry said this while picking up Teddy and patting his newly clothed bottom. He thought he saw Draco's mouth twitch but it seemed it was just his imagination. After an awkward silence, Draco opened his mouth to speak.

"How come you're not spending the holidays with the Weasleys? Don't you miss your girlfriend?"

Harry rose an eyebrow, the blonde did not sound drawling or taunting, instead, he seemed almost...worried?

"I just wanted to spend it with Teddy and Mrs. Tonks, and not that it's any or your business but I don't have a girlfriend right now." Harry wondered himself why he had told Draco this, until the git's face became a weird expression.

His mouth was in a half smile and half scowl, his eyebrows knitted, face flushed.

"What's with you?" he asked awkwardly, unaware that Teddy was watching Malfoy, trying to copy his appearance.

"You ill again?" Harry unconsciously moved closer to him but was surprised when Teddy put his little arms on Malfoy's flushed cheeks, his own hair matching his.

~.~

Draco's face reddened even further. He felt the baby's soft hands on his cheeks. He had never felt such innocence. Warmth spread from Teddy's fingers, the baby was smiling, his little hair a perfect copy of Draco's. Unsure of what to do he looked up.

Harry was smiling gently, Draco's heart skipped a beat. He had never seen the Gryffindor smile like that, and he couldn't handle it. He pushed away from Harry and the baby, heart beating so fast it hurt.

"G-get that werewolf cub away from me!"

Instantly, Harry's expression turned cold, he hugged the baby closer.

"Just get out of here Malfoy,"

Draco's heart fell. He felt the teen roughly shove past him back into the living room but he felt nothing more afterwards. Just a dull numbing sensation. Balling his hands into fists, he wondered when his stupid crush was going to end.

~.~

Harry hadn't felt this angry in ages. Not wanting to sit in a room with the git, he managed to bring Teddy outside into the garden with an excuse. Watching Teddy chase after some butterflies, his anger faded slowly, and soon it was tucked away at the back of his head. The black haired wizard said nothing else to Draco for the rest of the day and instead directed his attention to Teddy and the two sisters. Thankfully, they didn't pressure the two boys to speak to each other.

When night fell, Harry was unwillingly stuck with Draco in the baby's room. The Tonks' residence only had two bedrooms, one for Mrs. Tonks and one for Teddy, which used to be Tonks' old room. The two wizards slept on beds on either side of the crib and although both of them were awake, neither of them made any conversation.

It was just as Harry began to fall asleep when he heard a small muttering. Opening his eyes as small as possible, he saw Draco bending over Teddy.

"I'm sorry,"

Was Draco apologising to a sleeping toddler? It was dark but he could clearly see Draco shifting his attention onto Harry. He shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He felt the blonde walk over to his bed, wondering what he was up to, he gripped his wand underneath the blanket, paranoia creeping behind his neck, despite this, he was totally unprepared for what happened next.

Draco pushed some hair out of Harry's face, letting them flow in between his fingers, almost brushing the unkempt hair. His fingers lightly grazed Harry's forehead as the blonde teen continued his work. Finally, Draco brought his fingers down to caress Harry's cheeks. He lingered for a while, before retracting his hand as if it was burned. Harry didn't dare open his eyes until shuffling footsteps told him Draco had returned to bed. The grip on his wand loosened, and he opened his eyes again. What the hell was that? Didn't Draco hate him? Where did all the affection come from? He...he couldn't possibly like Harry? The thought was so ridiculous that it settled him down a little. With one last look at his companion's sleeping form, he turned in his bed, trying hard to sleep.

When morning came, they enjoyed a quiet breakfast and it was time to say goodbye. Neither Narcissa nor Draco had held Teddy since they came but Harry tried not to think too much of it. Andromeda gave them each an awkward hug, Draco seemed particularly stiff when it was his turn. Harry observed him, the blonde's hair was disheveled, his eyes soft, his thin eyebrows knitted, expression uncomfortable but not displeased. When their eyes met suddenly, Harry jumped. Captivating grey eyes stared into green ones, they were...nervous?

"Bye P-...Harry," he said, face becoming a little pink. Harry felt his face growing hot as well, remembering what the blonde had done the previous night and could only nod in response. Draco then looked at Teddy, who was pouting with his hair as blonde as the Malfoys'. A small smile crept up Draco's cheeks and he wiggled a finger in goodbye.

"Bye little werewolf cub," he mumbled, his pointer now grasped tightly in Teddy's whole fist.

What was before an insulting remark was now strangely endearing, Harry smiled too, unaware of how much the two sisters were enjoying this small interaction. The mother and son finally left after Teddy let go of Draco and they had to distract him a little because he started to whine at the sudden absence of his uncle. While Teddy babbled some happy talk perched on his godfather's shoulders, Harry looked around at the living room, suddenly feeling that it was a little too empty.

~.~

 _I had been debating whether or not to post this under Pen Pals. Its late, but a somewhat continuation is here, I hope you enjoyed it._


End file.
